DATE: Tuesday, May 6, 1997                  TAG: 9705060450

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: TOM ROBINSON

                                            LENGTH:   65 lines

WELL-TRAVELED CHAMBERLAIN HAPPY TO BE ALONG FOR RIDE

For minor leaguers trying to get up or get back to the big time, it's almost always about numbers. Some mean everything, some mean nothing. Wes Chamberlain's uniform number, for instance, with the Norfolk Tides.

It ruins a good angle, but No. 13 means nothing to him. Thirteen just happened to be available when he arrived after an April 29 trade between the Mets and Pittsburgh, for whom Chamberlain was playing in Triple-A Calgary.

``It was the only number they had,'' Chamberlain says.

Then again, if No. 13 serves him as it did a basketball player named Wilt, Wes ``No Relation'' Chamberlain might become attached quickly.

So far, so effective. In three games before Monday, Chamberlain, a power-packed outfielder/designated hitter, had six hits in 12 at-bats, two wall-rattling doubles, one RBI and two stolen bases.

Now, turn 13 around and you get Chamberlain's age, 31. That's the number that takes Chamberlain well past the ``prospect'' range he entered 10 years ago as the Pirates' fourth-round draft pick out of Jackson State (Miss.)

Instead, 31 puts Chamberlain, a Chicago native, into the niche reserved for survivors schooled in the ways of major and minor league joys and sorrows - ``bench player.''

Chamberlain has enough savvy in his game and explosiveness in his righthanded bat to bolster somebody's bench. And he figures he'll do so this season with the Mets or next season with someone else in the year of expansion.

Not in Japan, though. Chamberlain did Japan for a few months last season and hit 11 home runs in 231 at-bats. He could have gone back. ``But I didn't want to start my career over there right now,'' he says. ``You can't make that type of money in Triple-A, but I know I can get back to the big leagues.''

As in '93. By that year, he had been up with the Phillies for most of the two previous seasons. And as those charmed '93 Phils won 97 games and made the World Series, Chamberlain contributed 12 home runs and a .282 average as a backup.

He had designs on Philly's rightfield job for a number of years. But in '94 he was traded to Boston, which dealt him to Kansas City, and Toronto signed him for Triple-A last season before Japan called.

So now No. 7 is prominent on Chamberlain's resume, as in the organizations he's graced, including Pittsburgh twice. Men with such well-traveled spikes are often embittered, but if he is, Chamberlain hides it well.

``I'm blessed to have a job,'' Chamberlain says. ``The Mets have interest in me. To me, that's a great sign.''

Then again, maybe the number 245 will make trouble.

At 6-foot-2, Chamberlain's listed weight is 219 pounds, except he was 219 about 30 pounds ago. Chamberlain says he's a solid 245, forged from his first off-season of weight training, up to a 52 sport coat from 48.

He'd like to lose 10 to 20 pounds across his chest, though, only because he's eager to see how good he could be with the same strength at a leaner weight.

``Some guys look good but don't have power,'' says Chamberlain, who says he'll balk if he's forced to slim down. ``I've got power.''

He knows he can hit. He knows he can run. He knows he can play, and he points to the heavens, No. 1, after a good hit to celebrate his fortune and honor its source.

``I'm in the best situation I think a man can be,'' Chamberlain says. ``I'm under contract. I've got three beautiful kids, a beautiful wife. We're debt-free. Life's better than good. It's great.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Wes Chamberlain

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